Whether in his native Georgia or from his St. Louis, Chicago, and Los Angeles experiences, new Achieve Hartford! Chief Engagement Officer Derrick Alan Everett has a straightforward view of what school improvement looks like: Dedicated partners willing to work together to get things done to provide a superior education for all children.

Not too many people have a B.A. in English from Washington University in St. Louis, an M.F.A. in writing from the California Institute of the Arts, and a J.D. in law from Northwestern University, followed by an additional degree in media law and a University of Southern California Annenberg Ph.D.-level fellowship studying social change.  Derrick Everett has all of the above.  So what’s he doing here?

He will be nearer to his family, and nearer to his heart, he told Achieve Hartford! Board of Directors and staff members in a series of rigorous interviews recently.

As it happened, Mr. Everett founded DGTL SQRE in Los Angeles, directing strategic planning for organizations, following a stint directing communications and advocacy for the nonprofit Parent Revolution.

A self-confessed “reformed lawyer,” Chief Engagement Officer Everett has gravitated not only geographically but professionally, moving from a law and art background to work on social justice and school improvement – on which he has found his philosophy to be simpatico with the work of Achieve Hartford!

“I was drawn to the convening and constructive friend roles that Achieve Hartford! has been developing, not just to talk about, but to drive systemic reform,” he said.  He added, “Even as we emphasize accountability for equity among all the public, private, and community entities, we also need to subject ourselves to that same standard.”

“Derrick is well prepared to help our organization set strategy and build key relationships throughout the city and region,” Achieve Hartford! Executive Director Paul Holzer said today.  “Integrating efforts to close the achievement gap will require proven ability to cultivate a sense of ownership across all stakeholders and sectors, measure success, and supervise staff – and Derrick has an impressive background on all of those fronts.

“Strong schools make a strong city; activating the community to take ownership of problem solving is both an art and a science, requiring a wide and deep skill set,” he added.  “Given that he has that – and fits in so well with our small staff – we are delighted to welcome him.”

Dr. Beth Schiavino-Narvaez is taking a different job, New Haven Superintendent Garth Harries is leaving November 1^st, and Bridgeport Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz has been driven out by Board of Education contentiousness.  What are we to learn from the current state of Connecticut’s three largest cities?

According to the CT Association of School Superintendents (CAPSS), several factors are at play in what it terms “a crisis of leadership in CT’s three largest school districts”:

• “The root of the problem that has to be solved is a school district governance structure that was developed in the eighteenth century and that no longer aligns well with what school systems need to be in the twenty first century,” CAPSS has stated.
• Specifically, the system needs pillars of the community in Board positions – not a process that allows “for anyone regardless of qualifications, knowledge, temperament, and/or motivation to represent the public,” the organization added.
• Not only should micromanagement by Boards be out of bounds, but the CT law limiting superintendent contracts to three years needs to be changed.
• Finally, whereas teachers on the job have lifetime contracts after four years of service, superintendents serve basically at the whim of their Boards.  Sufficient job security is an issue.

Changing the governance structure won’t be easy, but it is presently such an impediment to the welfare of children that all connected with public education in CT need to seriously discuss how to change it, CAPSS contends.

Perhaps the Bridgeport transition of Dr. Rabinowitz is the most disturbing.  After enduring Board Member Maria Pereira’s “negative crusade to undermine and discredit much of what we have built for children in this school district,” the superintendent said in a resignation letter, she will leave at the close of the year after concluding that the situation is “impossible.”

The Bottom Line.  The dynamics between the superintendent and the Board in Hartford, fortunately, are much more positive – and functional – than those in Bridgeport.  Moreover, the hybrid Board selection process, in which the mayor appoints the five-member majority to augment the four elected members, promotes a diverse and knowledgeable structure.  At the same time, turnover in the superintendent’s office has created instability for many years in Hartford.  The issues raised by CAPSS deserve serious consideration as we here in Hartford set up a superintendent search process just today.